Myth Monday: An aggressive dog requires aggressive training!

I was scrolling TikTok when a video crossed my feed that not only made me furious, but it was what I can only describe as abusive training. I won’t include the video because I don’t want to promote it or the K9 “trainer” who posted it. In the video, there is a dog that looks like a bully breed and he is muzzled. The handler is holding him as he is lunging, growling, snarling, and basically in an extreme state of aggression. Another dog appears off to the side (a German Shepherd) and is off leash. They are clearly in some type of park or outdoor space that looks…populated. The handler of the bully breed lets go of the dog and the dog rushes towards the GSD. However, the bully is muzzled so it cannot injure the other dog, but no need to worry about THAT, the GSD begins to attack the bully immediately. After a few seconds of the GSD attacking the bully, two handlers pull the dogs apart and then begin to spew some nonsense about how aggressive dogs require aggressive training. 

All I saw was abuse.

All I saw was fear. 

All I saw was a dog who was unable to protect himself against the onslaught of a powerful breed. 

This is not training. This is not exposure therapy. This is disgusting and abhorrent behavior from someone claiming to be a professional dog trainer. No, I didn't watch the rest of the video. I saw all I needed to see within the first 10 seconds. 

Training an aggressive dog should NEVER be done like this. Imagine you hire a trainer and pay top dollar, only for them to set up your dog to be attacked while defenselessly wearing a muzzle? How would you feel watching that? How would you feel watching your dog being attacked regardless of this being a set up?

I know what the “balanced” trainers will say. 

“Well his dog is trained to attack, it wasn’t going to hurt the other dog” or “Well the dog was showing dominance so the GSD had to put him in his place” or even “The dog just needed to learn his lesson”. The horrible truth is that many dog trainers think like this. They think that being a “trainer” means doing the hard stuff like using aggression to combat aggression.

But does this really work?

The truth of it is no. If you combat aggression with aggression all you are teaching and instilling in that dog is FEAR. In my experience as a human being, training anything that instills fear in a human or animal doesn’t teach them anything except to be afraid of the very object that is being used to “teach”. 

Many human leaders have led with fear. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Kim Jong-un, and even our very own leader here in the US. Using fear, manipulation, terror, and intimidation, these men believed in domination. They wanted power and would use whatever tools at their disposal to get it. Along the way, they killed people either directly or indirectly. And those who follow them are and continue to be a blight on our society. But…back to dog training.

No dog trainer is looking for “world domination” and I’m well aware that if any balanced trainers do read this, they’re going to immediately say that I’m bashing them, I’m calling them Hitler. I’ll be honest, I kind of am. If a dog trainer is using fear, intimidation, aggression, and force..yes they are exhibiting the very same behaviors as these infamous oppressors. However, these trainers are not bad people. They are simply misguided and misinformed. Let me explain.

If I punch you in the face, what would be your next move? Are you going to cry? Hold your face and run away? Say “that’s not very nice” and then walk away? Most human-beings are going to say “well if you punch me, I’m going to punch you back”! And this is the cold, hard truth. You aren’t going to stand for that. I wouldn’t either. And I can assure you my punch is weak, I don’t work out my arms. But it would still upset you and make you want to retaliate.

Now imagine I punch you in the face, but your arms are tied behind your back. Now you want to punch me back, but you can’t. So I could keep punching you over and over again and you would have no way to defend yourself. You can’t even put your arms up in front of your face to protect it. You have nothing. THAT is what the dog with the muzzle on is feeling in this moment. He is angry and fearful and now he is being attacked and HE CAN’T STAND UP FOR HIMSELF OR PROTECT HIMSELF. His arms are metaphorically tied behind his back.

If people continue to pay for trainers like these, they will continue to exist. When do we finally say enough is enough?

Now you’re wondering, well if we don’t train an aggressive dog with aggression, how do we do it?

Training is like an art form. There are so many different ways to go about working with aggression that there is no need to go to such horrible lengths. When I work aggression cases my first goal is to find out what is triggering your dog and why. What is making them uncomfortable? What is it that they are unable to handle? Aggression stems from a deeper emotion, usually from fear, instability, trauma, or stress. Getting to the emotional state of the dog and understanding them is the first step. If your dog is aggressive with other dogs and you throw them in with another dog, that could only lead to more trauma and more fear and will make the training even more of an uphill battle. But if you tell me that 2 years ago your dog was attacked while on a walk by an off-leash dog and had to go to the vet hospital and get stitches…now we know that your dog’s fear can be stemming from the trauma they endured during that time. Not just the trauma of the attack, but also the trauma of the vet visit, the sedation, and waking up not knowing what the heck kind of voodoo juice that weird man in a white coat gave them!

After we recognize what the underlying (potential) reason is for the aggression, we can look at how to fix it. Keeping the dog away from other dogs during the training is imperative because putting a dog that has this kind of trauma in with another dog that doesn’t have the right demeanor at the right time, can be extremely dangerous for both dogs. But basic manners, building confidence in the dog, and with slow and deliberate introductions to dogs with calm, stress-free demeanors can lead to a dog that can overcome their fears and get back to co-existing with other dogs and maybe even befriend some of them!

I have to interject that not every aggression case ends harmoniously. Not every dog can be rehabilitated. Some dogs have too much trauma or were not taught coping mechanisms at a young enough age and they simply cannot handle being around other dogs. This leads to an owner question, “Does your dog HAVE to be around other dogs?” The answer is usually no. And truth be told, if a dog is in a loving home with loving human family members, no they won’t “miss” interacting with other dogs. In fact, they’ll probably be glad that this isn’t something they ever have to fear again! Many dogs live happy and healthy lives away from other animals…that’s okay. 

So do we need to train dogs by putting them in dangerous situations? Absolutely not. Can we train dogs with love, understanding, and slow deliberate training at their pace? I hope you said yes. 

When you’re hiring a trainer, it doesn’t have to be me (although I’d hope you’ll consider it), but I encourage you to do your research and make sure the trainer you are using is force-free or positive reinforcement. Because no one should be training a dog like this bully breed was. No one should be subjecting an animal to that. 

Be well, and think pawsitive! Goodnight dog lovers.